A very non-serious post

Wow! Sorry, I just realized it has been over a week since my last post. I have just been so busy what with it being my LAST WEEK OF CLASSES

That’s right! As of yesterday, I am done attending lectures at the school…and no, this is not a late April fools day joke. But on THAT note, there were plenty of pranks played at the center yesterday.

We had to present a final group project about a marine species we were assigned to study. Our species was the Caribbean Spiny Lobster but we decided to doa fake power point presentation about the economic importance of SEA CUCUMBERS in south Caicos. We have a really awesome professor for the class and she was totally cool with us doing it. Sooo we gave our presentation about how sea cucumbers are a really great marine animal to use for fisheries...lots of great pics to show their potential for high class cuisine on the island. Also suggested that we build sea cucumber houses in the ocean (out of recycled Nalgenes and PVC pipe) to be able to harvest them. Everyone was clearly confused by the time we finally said April fools...the best part though was that our professor acted like she was really upset that we had wasted her class time and didnt take the assignment seriously. She walked out of the class and then came back in to give the double whammy April fools. Hahah...so great. Earlier in the morning, a few boys decided to put a rotting barracuda head (complete with maggots) into one of the girls' bathrooms before class started so that it had a good 3 hours to make their entire room smell like rotting fish. mmmmm! They got them back later by sneaking into their room and putting their mattresses on the roof of the snorkel shed. Since I am on a roll with this very non-serious post, I'll let you all in on the facebook group I decided to start last week. Its called "ONLY AT CMRS..." (CMRS is our school, the Center for Marine Resource Studies). Above is the silly picture I made in paint program...Basically I invited all the students to contribute to a list of all the weird things that you become accostomed to here in South Caicos. Here is a list of some of the best ones/ones that are not inside jokes: ONLY AT CMRS...

• you are told that the mold on your pillow isnt "active" mold.


• showers can be used as a form of currency.


• you are like a farm animal; you come to feed at the sound of a bell.


• ping pong skill level is a form of street cred.


• if a cell phone rings, its your professors.


• you know someone's water bottle as well as their face.


• your professor know how you like your eggs...


• 75% of your diet is comprised of rice and beans.


• your body is your own personal salina.


• YOU HAVE A CURFEW EVERY NIGHT.


• you can get a watch tan in winter.


• you have "snack time every day at 4:30


• you dont have to worry about being judged based on cleanliness or wearing the same shirt 3 days in one week...but you will be judged on your pronunciation of scientific names.


• rain is always welcome because it means its shower and laundry time.


• you can pee and kill cockroaches at the same time.

Alright soooo maybe that will give a little more insight into the life I have been living for (yikes!) over 2 months now. It is amazing what we have all learned to adjust to and live without, but I dont think we would have it any other way!

Final exams are on Monday and Tuesday, so I will have much more time to update in a few days! But like I said before, get ready for Dani the science girl to come out in full force! Not only will I be a serious scientist for the next month, I will also be a HUNTER OF LIONFISH!!! More to come on that but here is just a preview of how serious we are about research here...